Posts Tagged ‘Tennessee’

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Watery Wednesday # 23

February 17, 2009
Wetumpka Falls, Tullahoma, Tennessee. February 14, 2009.

Wetumpka Falls, Tullahoma, Tennessee. February 14, 2009.

This is my entry for Watery Wednesday, a weekly meme that features scenes from around our watery world.  To see more pictures, or to join and post pictures of your own, click HERE.

There isn’t a great deal of water in this picture (which can be enlarged), but I am posting it since it is the latest waterfall that Betsy and I have added to our waterfall ‘collection’.  Wetumpka Falls is the 301st waterfall in our collection.

Sunday I wrote about Pond Falls, which was 300th in our collection.  Wetumpka Falls was a footnote in our waterfall book and is located about half a mile from Ledford Mill.  We went right past it the first time we tried to find it, but spotted it the second time.  It can be seen from the road if you know where to look.  Wetumpka Falls might be small, but it’s a nice start to our second 300 waterfalls.

In trying to find more information on Tennessee’s Wetumpka Falls, I found two more waterfalls with the same name — one in Alabama and one in New Jersey.  So it looks like we have a couple of more waterfalling trips to make.

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Posted in Watery Wednesday | 29 Comments »

A Valentine Day Hike

February 16, 2009
Betsy and George at Short Springs State Natural Area. February 14, 2009.

Betsy and George at Short Springs State Natural Area. February 14, 2009.

As I mentioned yesterday, Betsy and I did  some hiking and waterfalling on Valentine’s Day.  It’s becoming something of a tradition for us.  In February there tends to be more water at some of the smaller waterfalls and the bare trees make it easier to find a waterfall when bushwhacking.

The longest hike we had on Saturday was at the Short Springs State Natural Area near Manchester, Tennessee.  Short Springs has a well-developed trail system which is both well-maintained and well-marked.  We hiked the Machine Falls Loop, which got us quite close to the base of Machine Falls.

Most of the time the trail was very moderate, although the descent into the canyon containing the waterfall was very steep.  There were several stone steps that would be difficult for my short-legged beautiful bride to climb on the way up.  To continue around the loop would be a longer hike, but what would the climb up out of the canyon be like?  We didn’t know.

But one of the nice things about hiking is that you meet some of the nicest people on the trail.  While we were admiring the stream below the falls, we met a boy scout leader who was familiar with the area.  (He’s the one who took the picture above).  He recommended continuing around the loop.  The ascent up Jesus Hill — so called because he felt that would be where he would meet Jesus when climbing up — was steep but contained no rocks to climb over.  We made it up the hill (slowly)  and had a nice hike around the rest of the loop.

Most of the time when hiking we have the trail to ourselves, which we very much enjoy — it’s a great way to feel close to God’s beautiful creation.  But once in a while we meet another hiker who shows us another aspect of that beauty.

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Posted in Hiking | 23 Comments »

A Visit to Black Mountain

January 10, 2009
Betsy at the North Overlook on Black Mountainnn. January 9, 2008.

Betsy at the North Overlook on Black Mountainnn. January 9, 2008.

Yesterday, since we had gone out for the previous two days, Betsy and I decided we would stay home.  It was laundry day for Betsy and I had wood to bring up to the garage and Christmas decorations to put away in the attic.

We did quite well until the early afternoon, but the day was entirely too nice to stay in.  So we drove to Black Mountain Recreation Area near the town of Crab Orchard, which is only about seven miles from the house.  The recreation area is atop Black Mountain (I guess that makes sense) and features a 1.7 mile loop trail that connects two overlooks.  There is also a connection with the Cumberland Trail, which, when completed, will be a north-south hiking trail across Tennessee.

We’ve been to Black Mountain several times.  Betsy especially wanted to go back in the winter to see if it was possible to spot Fairfield Glade from the North Overlook when there were no leaves on the trees.  The North Overlook provides a view of Crab Orchard Valley which lies between Black Mountain and the Glade.  The picture above shows Betsy at the North Overlook, but we still couldn’t see much because of all the tree branches in the way.

We continued on around the loop to the South Overlook, which probably has the best view of the Cumberland Plateau and the Tennessee Ridge and Valley beyond.  The South Overlook is our favorite place on Black Mountain, but we couldn’t stay long yesterday.  It was getting late and I definitely did not want to drive down the narrow, one-lane road after dark!

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Posted in Travels | 26 Comments »

Ozone Falls and What We’ve Missed

January 8, 2009
Ozone Falls, Ozone, Tennessee. January 7, 2008.

Ozone Falls, Ozone, Tennessee. January 7, 2008.

Betsy had a great idea yesterday.  The heavy rains had stopped and, although there were still sprinkles and an occasional snow flurry, she suggested that we go see Ozone Falls.

Ozone Falls is the nearest ‘major’ waterfall to our house.  We’ve been there several times  — a couple of times when there wasn’t much water going over the falls and once when there was a great deal of snow and ice around the falls.

Yesterday, as the picture above shows, there was a great deal of water going over the falls — much more than we’ve ever seen.  But the big surprise for me was something I hadn’t seen before.

A new (for me) small waterfall with Ozone Falls in the background.

A new (for me) small waterfall with Ozone Falls in the background.

I hiked down to the vantage point I’ve visited before, but this time there was enough water in the stream that I could see rapids below the falls.  Since there were no leaves on the trees I could see a way to get to the stream below the falls, and so I set off down the side of the cove.  I hiked down to the stream below the falls and found a second, smaller fall below the main one as shown in the picture on the right.  I had no idea it was there.

Since I was now most of the way down into the cove I decided to go a little more further downstream and found several additional small falls and cascades.

I reluctantly left the stream and started to climb back up out of the cove.  For some reason it was much harder climbing up than it was walking down, but I think my new discoveries were worth it.

A small fall downstream from Ozone Falls.

A small fall downstream from Ozone Falls.

As I said, Betsy had a great idea!

Betsy has more about our trip to Ozone Falls.  You can read her blog click HERE.

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Posted in Waterfalls | 33 Comments »

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